Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
County Adds 'Medical Investigators' to Hunt Down COVID Cases
TLBBHMAP3-U010ALB5ANM-348f959abae2-512-300x300-1
By Jim Jakobs, Digital Producer
Published 5 years ago on
May 19, 2020

Share

The Fresno County Health Department knew who to call for help tracking down COVID-19 cases — EMTs laid off because of a dip in service calls during the pandemic.

“American Ambulance and the county agreed we would start out with a team of 15 to do medical investigation. This allowed us to bring back 13 of the 15 EMTs we laid off in March.” — Bob Adams, human resources director, American Ambulance

Now, many of these EMTs are joining the county’s 15-person MIT — Medical Investigation Team.

The MITs are trained specifically to talk to, assess, and document information from patients.

“We just did a bridge to bring some of those (EMTs) on to be trained and do this work at our direction,” said David Pomaville, director of the Fresno County Department of Public Health. “They will have phenomenal insight into how the public is addressing this concern.”

EMTs Bring a Needed Skillset to the Job

American Ambulance hired 15 new EMTs in early March. But, after their classroom training, the call volume fell 25% due to COVID-19.

“I had to deliver the news that we were laying them all off,” American Ambulance Director of Human Resources Bob Adams tells GV Wire by email. “Since then, we have had several conversations with various people at the Health Department and it was identified that our EMTs and Paramedics all have … the skill set needed for Medical Investigation.”

Medical investigation is a little different than contact tracing. Contact tracing is the process of finding and reaching out to the contacts of someone who tests positive for an infectious pathogen.

Adams says medical investigators interview people who have tested positive for COVID-19. From there, they work to identify the person’s contacts and provide them with information on how to care for themselves.

Those identified as having contact with a positive COVID-19 case are put in touch with a contact tracer. The contact tracer then provides information on what to watch out for, when to seek additional evaluation or medical treatment, and how to keep safe.

“American Ambulance and the county agreed we would start out with a team of 15 to do medical investigation,” says Adams.  “This allowed us to bring back 13 of the 15 EMTs we laid off in March.”

The medical investigators are training this week at American Ambulance’s training center in Clovis.

Schools Expected to Help With Contact Tracing

Schools will play a significant role in helping with contact tracing.

“It became very evident to us as we go forward and as we start to bring school systems back in place, that they’re going to become the first point of contact for people to report that they’ve had a positive COVID,” said Pomaville.

Pomaville said this group will include school nurses. The county health department is working with schools on a training program.

“We’re putting together a memorandum of understanding so both parties know the rules of who does what,” said Pomaville. “We’ve been talking with the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools conceptually with this. We have been in touch with Fresno Unified, Clovis Unified, and Sanger Unified on a daily basis.”

Pomaville also says the county is training on a state database that will be deployed across a variety of digital platforms to allow everyone to work collectively on contact tracing.

The Medical Investigation Questionaire


DON'T MISS

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

DON'T MISS

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

DON'T MISS

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

DON'T MISS

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

DON'T MISS

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

DON'T MISS

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

DON'T MISS

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

DON'T MISS

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

DON'T MISS

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

DON'T MISS

Fresno Council Lowers Speed Limits on Friant and Audubon

UP NEXT

Fresno Doctors Will Pay $2.4 Million to Settle Kickback Allegations, DOJ Says

UP NEXT

These Fresno Schools Are Unsafe and in Bad Condition. And No One Is Complaining

UP NEXT

What Will Happen to CNBC and MSNBC When They No Longer Have a Corporate Connection to NBC News?

UP NEXT

Bulldogs Stack Double-Doubles Like Burgers on a Plate to Beat Prairie View

UP NEXT

Major Storm Drops Record Rain, Downs Trees in Northern California After Devastation Further North

UP NEXT

Fresno County Men Arrested in Armed Robbery Near Sanger High, Sanger Academy

UP NEXT

Newsom Heads to Fresno, a County That Voted for Trump

UP NEXT

Conservative Professors and Students Are Beating CA Community Colleges in Court

UP NEXT

Suspect Arrested After Oakhurst Crime Spree Leaves K9 Injured

UP NEXT

With or Without Lockridge, Can Bulldogs Get Out of Their Own Way to Become Bowl Eligible?

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

55 minutes ago

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

1 hour ago

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

1 hour ago

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

2 hours ago

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

2 hours ago

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

2 hours ago

Fresno Council Lowers Speed Limits on Friant and Audubon

2 hours ago

How About an Honest Conversation About the Range of Light Monument Proposal?

4 hours ago

UConn Coach Geno Auriemma Breaks NCAA Wins Record With 1,217th Victory

4 hours ago

Fresno Doctors Will Pay $2.4 Million to Settle Kickback Allegations, DOJ Says

4 hours ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

Three of the nation’s largest automakers, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, are strategizing with other car manufacturers on how to make ...

10 minutes ago

President Joe Biden with Mary Barra, the chief executive of General Motors, at the Detroit Auto Show, Sept. 14, 2022. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to erase the Biden administration’s tailpipe rules designed to get carmakers to produce electric vehicles, but most U.S. automakers want to keep them. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
10 minutes ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

13 minutes ago

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

34 minutes ago

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at First Horizon Coliseum, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Greensboro, NC. (AP/Alex Brandon)
55 minutes ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

1 hour ago

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

1 hour ago

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

2 hours ago

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

2 hours ago

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend